KLUANG: A man accused of killing his mother was charged in the magistrate's court this morning.
Mohammad Hariez Farhan Masrudin, 20, appeared calm as the court interpreter read out the charge.
No plea was recorded before Magistrate Mustaqim Sukarno.
According to the charge sheet, Hariez, who is unemployed, allegedly murdered Zarina Jaafar, 47, between 10.45am and 12.00pm on Dec 4.
The act was purportedly committed at a house in Felda Ayer Hitam.
The accused, the third of five siblings, is charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of no less than 30 years but not exceeding 40 years upon conviction.
If not sentenced to death, the accused must also receive no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane.
No bail was offered, and the court set Feb 4, 2025, for the next mention to submit chemical and post-mortem reports.
The case will then be transferred to the High Court for trial.
The prosecution is led by deputy public prosecutor Siti Nurfara Fazilun Izylin Ahmad, while the accused was not represented by a lawyer.
Earlier, Kluang police chief Assistant Commissioner Bahrin Mohd Noh said in a media statement that the suspect was arrested in Felda Ayer Hitam at 11.00am on Wednesday.
It followed a report about an unconscious woman in her 50s with stab wounds on her body.
The victim was pronounced dead after being transported to Enche' Besar Hajjah Kalsom Hospital.